Machine fok rolling railed ad-bails



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- A. JLSUFPERN. MAUHINB FOR ROLLING RArILROAD AND OTHER IRON. No.12,837. Patented May 8, 1855.

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A. J. SUFPERN. MACHINE FOR ROLLING'RAILROAD AND OTHER. IRON.

No. 12,837. v Pa tented May 8., 1855.

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To all whom it may concern 1 "ANDRE J. SUEFERN, or s'UFFERN, NEW YORK.

1 MAcHInE Eon ROLLING RAILROAD-RAILS.

Speci fieationof Letters Patent 12,837,1iated May 8, 1855.

Be it known that 1, ANDREW JAcKsoN SUFFERN, of Suifern, inthe countyRockland and State of NewiYork, have invented a new and Improved Machinefor Rolling Railroad-Rails withThree Treads or VVear ing-Surfaces; and Idofhereby declare that thefollowing is avfull,clear, and exactdefscription thereof,.reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making "part of this specification, inwhichj Figure 1, is a perspectiveview of the said machine; and Fig. 2, avertical section.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures. l a The objectof my invention is to roll railroad rails with three treads or wearingsurf faces so that as the surfaces become worn,

by simply turning the rail one third around secondnew surface willbepresented, and when that is worn a third surface will be presented,the twosurfaces which are not i employed as a tread at any time forminga broad base for the support of the third tread, such rails with threetreads, both for economy of iron and tofacilitate the se- .curing ofthem to the cross ties, should be formed with each part like theordinary T rail, as it is technically termed, the union of the threepresenting three grooves or chanvention consists in the employment ofthree rollers with their axes arranged in the lines of an equilateraltriangle, so geared as to rotate with equal velocities, and eachhaving aprojecting fillet to produce one of the grooves between two of the railsor treads, and the peripheryfeach side of thefillet being so shaped asto produce the form of one half of two of therails.

. a In the accompanying drawings, C, repref sents a suitable frame whichmay be varied at the judgment of the constructor, and in which aremounted three rollers B, B, B, with theiraxes arranged in the lines ofan equilateral triangle. The form of the three tread rail, initscrosssection is represent-ed byutheopenspace c, at the junction ofthethree rollers, and the form of this open space is produced by the formof the eripheries ofthe threerollers,eachhaving a fillet l A,extendingaround its entire circumference I and agroove e, on each side.

The form of the fillet and the two grooves represented in a sectiontaken in the plane of the axis of either of the rollers, will correspondwith one third of the cross section of the three tread rail extendingfrom the middle of the breadth of one of the treads to the middle of thebreadth of the next, and therefore each groove will be the reverse ofone half of a tread while the fillet will be semi-circular, thesemi-circular fillet gradually running into the grooves which form theedges and wearing surface or treads of a the rails.

. The three rollersare formed in the same manner, and so beveled beyondthe grooves e, e, as to roll in contact to prevent the forming of a finon the middle of each tread of the rail. And beyond this the rollers arecoggecl as at f, f, that the three may rotate in unison. The shaft ofone of them should project sufliciently to receive motion from somesuitable motor.

The boxes in which the journals of the rollers are mounted are to beadjustable in manner well known to mechanicians acquainted withmachinery for rolling iron and which therefore does not require to bedescribed. The rollers may be diflerently geared as this makes no partof my invention.

The two tread rail has long been used, particularly in England, onaccount of economy. compared with the single tread rail, theoriginalcost being but little more than the cost of the single treadrail, but the use of the double tread rail is attended with seriousdifficulties, on account of the want of a supporting base. Thisobjection is entirely avoided by the three tread rail, as two of thetreads form a broad base for the support of the thirdwhich is used asthe tread. But the want of a suitable machine for rolling such rails ofthe required form has prevented their introduction into practical use,as it will be obvious that the T cannot be given by either two or fourrollers nor even by three except under the arrangement herein specified.A three tread rail could be rolled with a different arrangement ofrollers, but then the shank of the rail could not be made of lessthiclmess than the head or tread, and such form would not only .beobjectionable on account of the great weight and wasteful expenditure ofiron, but the form would notpresent projecting flanch ,like surfaces atthe sides for the heads of the spikes.

By my invention three tread rails can be rolled with the treads widerthan the thickness of the shanks to economize iron in pro portion to thedurability, with a broad base to rest on the cross ties and with flanchlike projections on each side to receive the heads of the spikes.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent isThe employment of three rollers in combination, arranged with their axesin the lines of an equilateral triangle each roller having a projectingfillet and a groove each side, and the three working in unison,substantially as herein specified, for rolling three tread rails, eachroller forming the surface from the middle of one tread to the middle ofthe next, and the groove between of such form that each head or treadmay be Wider than the thickness of the shank, as set forth.

AN DREW JACKSON SUFFERN.

l/Vitnesses:

WM. H. BISHOP, ANDREW DE LACY.

